By the time Qing Chen returned from the bamboo grove pavilion, his back was already soaked.
"Mo Qiuxian..." He gritted his teeth as he uttered the name.
He could not understand it: how could merely cultivating the "Brahma Demon-Refining Art" have offended him?
Could Mo Qiuxian actually forbid others from cultivating the art he had obtained?
If he did not want others cultivating it, why would he contribute it to the sect?
That was clearly impossible. There had to be another reason he knew nothing about.
Qing Chen pondered, What use could I possibly be to him?
I haven't shown any sudden leaps in cultivation, which means I wouldn't possess any soul secret arts.
And when I went to the General Affairs Hall this time, I specifically used the "Appearance-Altering and Bone-Shrinking Art" to make my face look a little pale.
I looked as though my vital energy was depleted, so there was even less chance of some rare treasure attracting his attention.
That leaves only one possibility.
"Cultivators of the 'Brahma Demon-Refining Art' only care about soul secret arts and blood essence..."
Qing Chen suddenly sat upright.
He had revealed no soul secret arts, so all that remained was the blood essence in his body!
The stronger one's blood essence, the more pronounced the effects of the "Brahma Aperture Blood Refining" secret method within the "Brahma Demon-Refining Art."
But why would Mo Qiuxian, an expert at the late Qi Refining stage, set his sights on this little bit of blood essence?
Unless... unless Mo Qiuxian intended to wait until he reached the middle Qi Refining stage and his blood essence grew richer before making his move!
He's deliberately slowing my cultivation, then using that as an opportunity to strip me of my outer disciple status.
Because the sect won't pay any attention to a disciple with no potential.
Afterward, Mo Qiuxian will transfer me to the General Affairs Hall or somewhere else so he can keep me under his control.
Once my cultivation breaks through to the middle Qi Refining stage, or grows a little deeper still, he'll devour me.
"So after all that, I've become blood food? I'm a blood pig he's raising?"
Qing Chen slapped the stone table hard.
Then would all those disciples cultivating the "Brahma Demon-Refining Art" end up as blood food in his mouth?
At that thought, Qing Chen felt a strange thrill, though he did not know what he was excited about.
Early the next morning, Qing Chen changed into a black cloak with a brimmed hood, faintly giving off the aura of the third layer of Qi Refining.
He put the short sword the sect had given him into his storage bag, felt the hundred and eighty spirit stones inside, took a deep breath, and headed toward the market halfway up the mountain.
The market on Outer Disciple Peak was much livelier than on his last visit. Stalls stretched for a full half li, and vendors' cries rose one after another.
"First-tier low-grade spirit herbs! Five spirit stones a bunch!"
"Freshly made Fireball Talismans! Three spirit stones each!"
Qing Chen mingled with the crowd, his eyes sweeping over the stalls.
He needed to buy some things to keep himself alive.
He stopped before a stall hung with spirit talismans. The stallholder was a disciple with a full beard, his head lowered as he wiped ink marks off the talismans with a cloth.
"Senior brother, I'll take all these spirit talismans. How about eighty spirit stones?" Qing Chen kept his voice very low.
The bearded man looked up at him, immediately furrowed his brow, and flung the cloth onto the stall.
"Junior brother, isn't eighty spirit stones a little too low? Look at all these spirit talismans. There are quite a few here. Add some more spirit stones."
Qing Chen smiled. "Senior brother, you have ten low-grade and ten middle-grade talismans here. Even counting generously, that's only seventy spirit stones. I'm offering eighty, so I'm already letting you earn ten extra."
The bearded man grew anxious and drew the talismans closer to his chest. "You can't put it like that! Those five Escape Art Talismans can save your life!"
He pointed at several sheets of talisman paper painted with wind patterns. "These Escape Art Talismans sell for ten each in markets outside! Five makes fifty! Together with the others, it has to be at least a hundred spirit stones!"
Qing Chen secretly rejoiced. Those were exactly the words he had wanted.
"All right, a hundred it is!"
He hurriedly took a hundred spirit stones from his storage bag and placed them on the stall. "Senior brother, you won't go back on your word, will you?"
The bearded man's face instantly fell. He opened his mouth but could not get a word out.
Even if these talismans could not fetch a hundred and twenty, there were still people willing to pay a hundred and five or a hundred and ten.
But the words were already out, and everyone around them was watching. He could only grit his teeth and shove the talismans into Qing Chen's arms.
"Take them, take them! Don't come to my stall again!"
Qing Chen felt secretly pleased with himself. Sure enough, a gentleman could be deceived by appealing to his principles-he cared about saving face.
If he were the stallholder, those bastards could forget about anything below a hundred and ten spirit stones. He would never let them go so easily.
Ten Fireball Talismans, five Escape Art Talismans, and five Water Arrow Talismans were enough to deal with first-tier demonic beasts.
Without stopping, he wandered over to a stall selling magical artifacts. The stallholder was a tall, thin man holding a black iron shield.
"How much for this Dark Iron Shield?" Qing Chen asked, pointing at the shield.
"Forty-five spirit stones!" the tall, thin man said hastily. "A low-grade defensive magical artifact. It can definitely block early first-tier demonic beasts!"
"I just sold my Qi Accumulation Pills and demonic beast essence blood. I only have forty-two spirit stones left."
He deliberately felt the empty medicine bottle. "If you won't sell it, I'll look elsewhere."
The tall, thin man stared at the medicine bottle, then hefted the bag of spirit stones in his hand. Finally, he sighed. "Fine, I'll sell it to you!"
Qing Chen handed over the spirit stones and took the Dark Iron Shield.
He wandered over to another stall selling formation disks. The stallholder was an inner disciple in blue robes, toying with a palm-sized wooden disk.
"Eighty spirit stones for this Bewildering Tracks Warning Formation Disk?" Qing Chen frowned.
"Senior brother, a first-tier low-grade defensive formation disk is worth fifty at most! Yours is only a small formation for protecting a cave abode, and you dare charge eighty? That's the same price as a middle-grade magical artifact!"
The blue-robed disciple calmly picked up the formation disk. "Junior brother, don't be hasty. Allow me to explain. There's a reason my formation disk costs this much.
"This formation disk has an added warning function. As soon as someone intrudes into the formation, a Voice Transmission Talisman within one li will ignite on its own. With this disk, you can at least know about danger in advance, can't you?"
That warning function tempted Qing Chen most. Though its range was only one li, that was enough to save his life.
He gritted his teeth. "Seventy-five! I won't buy it for a fraction more!"
The blue-robed disciple smiled and tossed him the formation disk. "Deal!"
Qing Chen could not help marveling at how profitable the art of formations was! A first-tier low-grade formation disk could actually sell for as much as a middle-grade magical artifact.
It made Qing Chen's teeth itch with hatred. From now on, he would rob every formation master he came across!
Presumably, this formation disk cost no more than twenty spirit stones to make. The hundred arts of cultivation truly lived up to their reputation.
The art of formations in particular was reputed to be the rarest skill. It deserved that reputation-it really earned spirit stones.
After this lavish shopping spree, Qing Chen had all but exhausted the spirit stones and pills he had received from the sect.
He now had only ten spirit stones left on him for unforeseen needs.
His storage bag, however, was packed with things, giving Qing Chen a slightly greater sense of security.
Still, he could not let go of his vigilance.
He would rather spend more spirit stones and effort than ever place himself in danger.
After all, he had only one life, with no chance to start over. As long as he lived, he would have a chance to turn things around.